Archive for February 29, 2012

My first day was filled with a bit of trepidation. Wasn’t really sure what to expect…kinda nervous to be honest. I know I probably shouldn’t have been, but for some reason, I was.

The radiation was pathetically easy…hop on the table face down, drop my drawers, the nurses line me up & the machine whirs & whines & 15 or so minutes later, I’m done. Poretty easy. Didn’t really feel anything during or after the radiation treatment to be honest. That was from 10:30 a.m. – 11 a.m.

After wards, I lollygagged around a bit as my appointment for the pick line was not until 12:30 p.m. This is what I was really a bit more nervous about as I’ve never been to the hospital since I’ve been born (no major broken bones or illnesses) and again, I just didn’t know what to expect. I ended up meeting Dawnette for her lunch & walking over to the pick line appointment early (12 noon or so).

They got me in at 1p.m. on the dot when my appointment was. I asked them what arm the pick-line goes in & they said my right. I asked them if it HAD to go in my right & they said it was their preference. I then asked if it was an issue going into my left arm. They were a bit perturbed & asked why, and I told them that I’ve given up pretty much everything with this stupid bout of cancer and the only thing I wasn’t willing to give up was my Thursday bowling with William Giger, Chris Bardee & James Apple…for some reason that gave the doctors a good chuckle & they agreed to do my left arm.

Surprisingly, it took all of 15 minutes…took them longer to prep me than it did to get the pick-line in & everything! I’ll upload a picture when I get a chance. Anyhow, the pick-line will get me ready for my chemo appointment tomorrow.

So, 2 weeks have gone by since I found out I had cancer & after calling & speaking with insurance & the doctors’ office (pathetic that I had to do the calling to get this jump-started, isn’t it?!?!?!), we found out that I will start treatments next Wednesday for radiation & that I have to get a pick-line put in that day as well for the chemo-therapy.

Frustrated at the delays, but glad now to at least have direction moving forward!

No changes in pain or anything else…still icing down daily, taking the morphine & hydrocodone.

I had my PET Scan this morning…had to drink some fluids to “light” me up internally for the PET scan, but it was pretty minor compared to the crap I had to drink for my CT scan at Medical Center of Plano (thank God!).

The PET scan took a couple hours (appointment, prep work & actual Scan, etc.). Plus it was EARLY (6am)…have I mentioned before that I am NOT a morning person?!?!?! Pretty trivial though to be honest, so it wasn’t a big deal. Apparently the PET scan is more in-depth than the CT scan & will give them a better look at the cancer & the tissue surrounding, etc.

Like I said, all in all, it was pretty minor & over with. I continue to work as I have been, trying not to let this mess affect me, plus it helps take my mind off of things.

Still waiting to hear from insurance & when I will start the chemo & radiation treatments, etc.

So today I had to go into North Texas Oncology for “Radiation Planning”…what that broke down to was them taking a CT scan they also gave me 3 tattoos on my lower back to “mark” where they need to line up the radiation treatments. All were pretty simple. All in all, I was there for about an hour or so…

Other than that, no changes, no updates…just the same old waiting game, dealing with the pain the best I can, etc.

I have to go in for my PET scan on Wednesday (2 days) so I’ll follow up with another post around that time frame…

I was diagnosed with Rectal Cancer on February 10, 2012. It wasn’t a complete surprise. I had joked with my wife Dawnette a couple months earlier that I had a dream that the pain I was going through was actually cancer. Kinda interesting when you fast-forward to today.

Let me be up front…this is going to be pretty blunt & as descriptive as possible, so if you are squeemish, you might want to hit the back button on your browser at this point.

For some background, since roughly May 2011 I started experiencing some pain…because of the location, symptoms, etc. I figured it was hemorrhoids. I don’t get them often, but you just do the usual Preparation-H & a week or so later you’re good to go. This was a bit different though, the pain seemed a bit more intense.

After trying the Preparation-H for a couple weeks, I eventually went to the doctor in August (yes, it’s called procrastination). My GP gave me the latex glove treatment & told me I had hemorrhoids. After giving me a couple of prescriptions, she told me to check back with her in 30-60 days.

During this time, the pain kept getting worse…more intense and accompanied by bleeding. Not just the usual blood-tinged stool, but it started literally dripping blood. Bowel movements became increasingly painful as well. The stool wasn’t hard…it was fairly soft, but it was still painful nonetheless.

After 60+ days of no relief, I figured I would try some herbal remedies. I ordered some Mayinglong Musk Hemorrhoids Ointment Cream from Amazon.com & that seemed to alleviate the pain, at least temporarily…perhaps “sooth” the pain might be a better explanation. I also started using “wet-wipes” that I saturated with Witch Hazel. That had a slight soothing effect as well. Remember, we thought we were treating hemorrhoids. I also purchased some Horse Chestnuts (don’t ask, I have NO idea) & Butcher’s Broom (again, don’t ask…it said it would work, so I was up to trying just about anything).

By this point, I had also started doing HOT baths with epsom salt…this also seemed to provide temporary pain relief….and then there were the ice packs…sitting on an ice pack tended to sooth what we thought were swollen hemorrhoids.

Dawnette & I went to New York to visit with family, go to the City (we went & saw Wicked on Broadway), etc. On the way back (literally the day before we left), I came down with some sort of facial skin rash of some sort. I thought we could wait it out, but the cream we bought before heading to the airport to get back to Dallas did nothing. So on the way home, we stopped at the Frisco Urgent Care facility. They gave me some steroidal cream & then gave me an additional prescription for my hemorrhoids.

A month went by & I had enough…I went back to my GP & had a follow-up visit, explaining to her that the bleeding wasn’t the usual blood-tinged stool, but rather, dripping blood. She also was surprised that I was still in the severe pain I was in, so she set me up with a visit to an oncologist.

I met with Dr. B & got the white glove treatment & he too thought it was hemorrhoids, though was concerned with the bleeding & pain. He set me up with a colonoscopy for January 31st, 2012.

When the day came, I was a bit nervous/apprehensive, but we got there at 7:30 a.m. for the 8:30 a.m. appointment. They got me in pretty quick…and the procedure seemed to be over in no time.

As I was awakening from the anesthesia, I remember they brought Dawnette to me in my little cubby they had wheeled me to. Dr. Burleson told me that the result of the colonoscopy was that I didn’t have hemorrhoids, but it was rectal cancer.

To be honest, all this time I had been more-so frustrated with myself as I thought I was simply being a wuss for not being able to handle the pain from stupid hemorrhoids. At least I knew I wasn’t being a wuss…it was something a heck of a lot more severe than just hemorrhoids!

He then told me that the cancer itself was 3 1/2 – 4″ in size (6-8+ centimeters)…the problem is that the rectum is only 4-6 inches in size itself, so my cancer is over half the size of my rectum! Well, that explains the ridiculous pain I am in!

OK, so a week has gone by since I found out that I wasn’t dealing with hemorrhoids, but that I have stage 3 rectal cancer. This bit of a holding pattern is somewhat frustrating as I’m waiting for insurance to get in the loop & approve things & then waiting to hear back from the doctor as to a path for (hopeful) recovery, etc.

The stress has gone down, but unfortunately, the pain hasn’t. Still excruciating, still rotating an ice pack on my back-side every 2 hours or so. At least Dr. Burleson gave me the HYDROCODONE to help deal with the pain somewhat. It’s not all THAT effective to be honest, but considering I wasn’t taking ANYTHING but Tylenol for the last 8 months, some improvement is better than none!

We did have an appointment this morning with Dr. Stone (Chemo doctor) & Dr. Greenberg (Radiation doctor) of North Texas Oncology. They’re both good-natured with a great sense of humor, which I found to be very relaxing in their company. Dr. Stone gave me the run-down on what’s going to happen: 5 1/2 weeks of daily (Monday – Friday) radiation treatments along with a pick-line placed in my arm for chemo (24 x 7). The goal of this is to reduce the size of the cancer. I’ll then take 4-6 weeks off to let things “percolate” in my body & then they’ll operate on the tumor to remove what’s left of it. Might have to repeat everything after that…not sure at this point.

On a positive note, he gave me morphine to go along with the hydrocodone to help with the pain. He seemed impressed given the size of the cancer & all that I hadn’t been taking ANYTHING (other than Tylenol) for the pain for the last 8 months…see, I WASN’T being a WUSS all this time! ;o)

Took the afternoon off from work (pretty much the entire day really) & relaxed, iced down, etc.

As they wheeled me into a waiting room while Dawnette went to get the car, I was still coming out of the anesthesia, so everything was still quite a bit “foggy”. I was all over the board emotionally…still hadn’t quite registered completely as to what just happened, etc.

The nurse took me down to the car & I was fighting back the tears at this point. Dawnette opened the car door & they helped me out of the wheel chair & into the car. Dawnette got into the drivers side & closed the door. At that point, I just broke down into tears. Couldn’t believe it. We’ve been through quite a bit already, but this was like icing on the cake.

As we drove home, Dawnette & I talked briefly, then had long moments of silence, then we talked again. We discussed my dream of a few months earlier regarding having cancer & how eerie that was given the news we just found out. I texted/e-mailed my bosses to let them know the results of the colonoscopy.

When we got home, I just couldn’t sleep, so I laid on my bed & answered e-mails from work & piddled around with a server build (also for work). Yes, I shouldn’t be working, but it was keeping my mind off everything else, so it helped me.

I rested for a bit, didn’t have any lunch, and Dad came by to visit later in the afternoon. He prayed with me & we talked for about an hour before he had to go.

I rested some more, had some dinner with Dawnette & we watched some TV or a movie & then I went to sleep for the night.

Let me be up front…this is going to be pretty blunt & as descriptive as possible, so if you are squeemish, you might want to hit the back button on your browser at this point.

I was diagnosed with Rectal Cancer on February 10, 2012. It wasn’t a complete surprise. I had joked with my wife Dawnette a couple months earlier that I had a dream that the pain I was going through was actually cancer. Kinda interesting when you fast-forward to today.

For some background, since roughly May 2011 I started experiencing some pain…because of the location, symptoms, etc. I figured it was hemorrhoids. I don’t get them often, but you just do the usual Preparation-H & a week or so later you’re good to go. This was a bit different though, the pain seemed a bit more intense. And it only got exponentially worse.

After trying the Preparation-H for a couple weeks, I eventually went to the doctor in August (yes, it’s called procrastination). My GP (Dr. Jennifer Culver) gave me the latex glove treatment & told me I had hemorrhoids. After giving me a couple of prescriptions, she told me to check back with her in 30-60 days.

During this time, the pain kept getting worse…more intense and accompanied by bleeding. Not just the usual blood-tinged stool, but it started literally dripping blood. Bowel movements became increasingly painful as well. The stool wasn’t hard…it was fairly soft, but it was still painful nonetheless. It got to the point where I was sitting on ice packs to help alleviate (what I thought was the) inflammation from the hemorrhoids.

After 60+ days of no relief, I figured I would try some herbal remedies. I ordered some Mayinglong Musk Hemorrhoids Ointment Cream from Amazon.com & that seemed to alleviate the pain, at least temporarily…perhaps “sooth” the pain might be a better explanation. I also started using “wet-wipes” that I saturated with Witch Hazel. That had a slight soothing effect as well. Remember, we thought we were treating hemorrhoids. I also purchased some Horse Chestnuts (don’t ask, I have NO idea) & Butcher’s Broom (again, don’t ask…it said it would work, so I was up to trying just about anything).

By this point, I had also started doing HOT baths with epsom salt…this also seemed to provide temporary pain relief….and then there were the ice packs…sitting on an ice pack tended to sooth what we thought were swollen hemorrhoids.

In November 2011, Dawnette & I went to New York to visit with family, go to the City (we went & saw Wicked on Broadway), etc. On the way back (literally the day before we left), I came down with some sort of facial skin rash of some sort. I thought we could wait it out, but the cream we bought before heading to the airport to get back to Dallas did nothing. So on the way home, we stopped at the Frisco Urgent Care facility. They gave me some steroidal cream & then gave me an additional prescription for my hemorrhoids.

Two months went by & I had enough…I went back to my GP (Jennifer Culver) on January 17th & had a follow-up visit, explaining to her that the bleeding wasn’t the usual blood-tinged stool, but rather, dripping blood. She also was surprised that I was still in the severe pain I was in, so she set me up with a visit to an oncologist.

It took me nearly 2 weeks to get an appointment, but on February 30th, 2011, I met with Dr. Burlesson & got the rubber glove treatment. He too thought it was hemorrhoids, though was concerned with the bleeding & pain. He set me up with a colonoscopy for February 10th, 2012.

The night before was fun of course! I delayed starting the colonscopy preparation regimine as I had bowling with the guys on Thursdays. So instead of starting at 5 p.m. as I should have, I didn’t start until 9 p.m. Let’s just say it made for a L-O-N-G night! I took the stool softener pills at 7 p.m. while at bowling. When I got home shortly after 9 p.m., I mixed the Miralax into the 64oz of Gatorade. I started drinking 8 oz every 15 minutes. It took effect fairly quickly…the cleaning/purging began within about an hour. The first hour or two wasn’t so bad, but after that let’s just say I didn’t stray too far from the bathroom! I finally finished up around 2 or 3 a.m.

A couple of hours later, we were up & headed to the facility across from Medical City Dallas. I was a bit nervous/apprehensive, but we got there at 7:30 a.m. for the 8:30 a.m. appointment. They got me in pretty quick, prepped me for the procedure and took me into the room. The anesthesiologist started and I was out quickly.

The procedure itself seemed to be over in no time. As I was awakening from the anesthesia, I remember they brought Dawnette to me where I was sent to recover. Dr. Burleson told me that the result of the colonoscopy was that I didn’t have hemorrhoids, but it was rectal cancer.

To be honest, all this time I had been so frustrated with myself as I thought I was simply being a wuss for not being able to handle the pain from stupid hemorrhoids. At least I knew I wasn’t being a wuss…it was something a heck of a lot more severe than just hemorrhoids!

He then told me that the cancer itself was 3 1/2 – 4″ in size (6-8+ centimeters)…the problem is that the rectum is only roughly 6 inches in size itself, so my cancer is over half the size of my rectum! Well, that explains the ridiculous pain I am in!